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The Marlins lost 82 and 85 games during Don Mattingly’s first two years as manager, and they will almost certainly lose well north of those totals this season with a stripped-down roster. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

MIAMI — For most of his baseball life – whether it was in New York as a Yankee or in Los Angeles as the Dodgers manager for five seasons – Don Mattingly lived in the heat of high expectations.

Now he lives in baseball’s land of no expectations.

The Miami Marlins stripped down to the studs over the winter, trading away almost everything of value except the gaudy home run sculpture in center field at Marlins Park. It doesn’t get activated as often these days with reigning National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton gone. The face of new ownership, Mattingly’s fellow former Yankee Derek Jeter, is unpopular in many parts of South Florida despite an ongoing charm campaign and fans have spoken loudly – by staying away. The Marlins are averaging just over 10,000 fans per game and fell well short of that in the opener of this week’s series with the Dodgers. Wednesday, Jeter announced the hiring of a new vice president of ticket sales and gave him a simple directive to “Get more people in here.”

And Mattingly finds all of this … “exhilarating?”

“This is about what we’re building. It’s actually one of the most exhilarating things I’ve done,” Mattingly said before Wednesday’s game.

“You know, to me, Derek has created a situation where he’s tied the organization together from top to bottom. It’s about what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it. … This whole thing is about what we’re trying to build and the challenges of that.

“The toughest challenge is the times you’re not playing well. We’ll go through a stretch where we win three, four series in a row. You see growth. You see young kids getting better. You see young pitchers pitching better. Then you go through a little downstretch. Those are tougher. But I think you always know where you’re going. It feels great to be a part of it.”

The reality, though, is that the Marlins are outgunned almost nightly. They lost 82 and 85 games in Mattingly’s first two years as manager here. They will almost certainly lose well north of those totals this season.

It’s a far cry from the annual division titles and World Series talk in Los Angeles where the Dodgers averaged 89 wins per season under Mattingly. But he insists he is enjoying it.

“Absolutely. Yes,” he said. “It’s different. Obviously, it’s different. The other side is a challenge too. High expectations are a challenge.”

The low expectations, mounting losses and depressing crowds are not dulling his competitive edge, Mattingly insists.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “Derek and I talk about it and I tell my players – we never go into a game thinking we’re going to lose. Never ever. I don’t care if it’s Kershaw vs. Richards out there in L.A. (a game the Marlins won to take the series in L.A.). I know that’s a tough matchup. But I know any night if my guy goes out and throws zeroes for six, goes five and gives up one – we’re in a game.

“We’ve just got to stay in the game. That’s what we’ve found out. These guys are buying in to what we’re trying to do and if we get pitching, we’re pretty good. Just like everybody else.”

THROWING PROGRAMS

Left-hander Rich Hill threw a bullpen session Wednesday afternoon and had no problem with the finger blister that cropped up during his start on Sunday. He is scheduled to start Saturday in Washington.

Lefty reliever Tony Cingrani threw a 40-pitch bullpen session and is on track to come off the DL on Saturday. Cingrani has been out since May 9 with shoulder inflammation.

Left-hander Clayton Kershaw continued his flat-ground throwing program Wednesday, stretching out to 90 feet.

Left-hander Julio Urias has begun throwing off a pitcher’s mound at the team’s training complex in Arizona. Urias is projected to return sometime during the second half of the season from shoulder surgery performed last June.

Bill Plunkett has covered everything from rodeo to Super Bowls to boxing (yeah, I was there the night Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear off) during a career that started far too long ago to mention and eventually brought him to the OC some time last century (1999 actually). He has been covering Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register since 2003, spending time on both the Angels and Dodgers beats.